1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to binder clips and, more particularly, to a binder clip having a structure that removably binds several sheets of documents or papers by rotating and pressing hinged pressing levers that function to open or close the mouth of a clip body, thereby binding the documents or papers prior to keeping them in a desired place.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a variety of clips have been used as tools to bind documents or papers, according to the type, thickness and binding method. When the document sheets to be filed are not so thick, Nalclip® clips have been preferably used.
The Nalclip® clips must be used with a clip dispenser specially designed for them. That is, to use the Nalclip® clips to bind a document, at least one clip is installed in the clip dispenser, and the jaws formed at the front end of the dispenser are positioned over arranged edges of the document sheets. Thereafter, a finger-operated handle of the dispenser is pushed forwards, so that a clip is moved forwards and is fitted over the edges of the document sheets prior to clipping the sheets. However, because of a limitation in a pushing force provided by a user and inherent limitations of the clip, such as the size of the clip dispenser, the size of the Nalclip® clips is limited to small sizes. Thus, when the document to be bound is beyond a predetermined thickness, the Nalclip® clip cannot be used.
To solve this problem, a conventional binder clip illustrated in FIG. 1 has been used, having a clip body 10, upper and lower jaws 11, an elastic web 12 and pressing levers 13.
The pressing levers 13, made from steel wires, are respectively locked to the upper and lower sides of the clip body 10. Each of the pressing levers 13 is made using a steel wire to form an appropriate shape having arms allowing a user to easily press the levers with his/her fingers. The ends of opposite arms of each pressing lever 13 are horizontally and oppositely directed outwards. The ends of each pressing lever 13 are hinged to the jaws 11 of the clip body 10.
The clip body 10 has a triangular cross-section with three sides, which are an upper side, a web side and a lower side. The clip body 10 includes the upper and lower jaws 11, to which the pressing levers 13 are respectively locked, with the elastic web 12 connected to the upper and lower surfaces of the clip body 10 and forming a web surface to provide predetermined elasticity to the jaws 11.
A mouth 14 is formed between the jaws 11 so that the mouth 14 forms an opening when the jaws 11 are levered upwards and downwards to clip document sheets. The upper and lower edges of the mouth 14 are roundly curled upwards and downwards, respectively, and the intermediate portion of each edge of the mouth 14 is cut to form insert openings, whereby the outwardly bent opposite ends of each pressing lever 13 can be hinged to the curled edges through the insert openings.
If the upper and lower pressing levers 13 of the clip body 10 are pressed by a user's fingers under the condition that the upper and lower pressing levers 13 are locked to the jaws 11, the elastic web 12 elastically and inwardly bulges while the mouth 14 is elastically opened. In the above state, the opening extent of the jaws 11 is dependent upon the bending strength of the elastic web 12. Advantageously, this type of clip provides a high clipping force to compress and clip document sheets, and thus a thick document can be bound by the clip.
However, the conventional binder clip having the above-described structure requires that a user press the pressing levers 13 with his/her fingers, which requires a strong pressing force while manipulating the levers 13. In an extreme case, this may cause the user to feel pain in the fingers, thereby being inconvenient to users. Furthermore, the pressing levers 13 of the binder clip project upwards and downwards, so that, when a document is bound using the clip, the levers 13 protrude from the upper and lower surfaces of the document, thus being inconvenient to users stacking up or keeping a plurality of clipped documents in a desired place. In an effort to solve the problem, the pressing levers 13 may be separated from the clip body, however, it is very difficult to separate the levers from the clip body and assemble them therewith. Further, the pressing levers may be easily lost after separation.